Vacuum cleaner

ABSTRACT

A vacuum cleaner comprising a floor contacting cleaning unit including a member movable over a floor being cleaned and including a suction producing motor-fan unit, a handle movable on this unit between operating and storage positions, cooperating catch means on the unit and a catch on the handle that are in engagement when the handle is in its storage position to retain the handle in the storage position and means for releasing the engagement of the catch means and catch in moving the handle from storage to operating position in which at least one of the catch means and catch is yieldable to permit forcible disengagement by force applied to the cleaning unit and the handle structure with the result that the yieldable construction permits this forcible disengagement without damage to the vacuum cleaner parts involved.

United States Patent Nordeen [54] VACUUM CLEANER Erwin E. Nordeen, SaintPaul, Mich.

[731 Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation [72] Inventor:

[22] Filed: May 19, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 38,806 [52] US. Cl ..l5/4l0[51] Int. Cl. ..A47l 9/32 [58] Field of Search ..15/361,410 [56]References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,031,710 5/1962 Huening, Jr...l5/410 X 2,684,271 7/1954 Brace 15/410 X 3,199,138 8/1965 Nordeenni..l5/410 X 3,512,207 5/1970 Ettridge 15/361 2,881,465 4/1959 Duff..15/4l0 X Primary Examiner-Walter A. Scheel Assistant Examiner-C. K.Moore Att0rney-James S. Nettleton, Thomas E. Turcotte, Burton H. Baker,Gene A. Heth, Franklin C. Harter, Anthony Niewyk, Robert L. Judd andHofgren, Wegner, Allen, Stellman and McCord [451 Aug. 15, 1972 57ABSTRACT A vacuum cleaner comprising a floor contacting cleaning unitincluding a member movable over a floor being cleaned and including asuction producing motor-fan unit, a handle movable on this unit betweenoperating and storage positions, cooperating catch means on the unit anda catch on the handle that are in engagement when the handle is in itsstorage position to retain the handle in the storage position and meansfor releasing the engagement of the catch means and catch in moving thehandle from storage to operating position in which at least one of thecatch means and catch is yieldable to permit forcible disengagement byforce applied to the cleaning unit and the handle structure with theresult that the yieldable construction permits this forcibledisengagement without damage to the vacuum cleaner parts involved.

4 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PMENTEDAU: 15 1972 FIG. 3

INVENTOR.

ERWIN E. NORDEEN Ma y avzzw,

ATTORNEYS.

VACUUM CLEANER CROSS REFERENCE The general arrangement of the vacuumcleaner disclosed herein in respect to the relationship of the operatingparts thereof is shown and claimed in my copending application Ser. No.38,803, filed May 19, 1970 (PA-3355).

One of the features of this invention is to provide an improved vacuumcleaner in which the handle structure that is used to propel the cleanerover the surface being cleaned can be locked in storage position, asduring off-the-floor cleaning, with the cleaner having cooperating catchparts at least one of which is yieldable under applied force so that thehandle can be moved from the storage position to operating positionwithout damage to the parts of the cleaner because of this yieldability.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description of one embodiment thereof taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings. Of the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view partially broken away of a vacuumcleaner embodying the invention.

FIG 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but illustrating the forcible movingof the handle structure from storage or non-operating position towardoperating position.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional detail of the cleaner of FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 but showing the parts approachingrelease position.

The vacuum cleaner illustrated in the accompanying drawings comprises afloor contacting cleaning unit 10 adapted to be moved over the floor 11during cleaning thereof by a handle 12 that is attached to the rear of arigid casing that contains the dirt separating bag (not shown). As iscustomary the unit 10 is moved over the floor 11 by being provided withsupporting wheels (not shown). The lower end of the casing 13 is mountedon a suction unit 14 so as to be substantially integral and arcuatelymovable therewith between the storage position of FIG. 1 and towardoperating position as illustrated in FIG. 2. This structure includingdetails thereof is disclosed and claimed in the above copendingapplication.

In order to retain the handle structure 12 in the storage position ofFIG. 1 the cleaning unit 10 is pro- I vided with a catch 15 thereondefined by a cam surface forming a recess 16 on the outer casing 17 ofthe suction unit 14. This recess is defined on its upper side by ashoulder 18 as illustrated most clearly in FIGS. 3 and 4.

A catch means 19 is provided on the cleaning unit 10 for engagement withthe shoulder 18 as shownin FIG. 3 to retain the handle structure 12 inupright position. Release means as embodied in a foot pedal 20 areprovided for moving at least one of the catch means and catch out ofengagement with each other preparatory to moving the handle structure 12from the storage position of FIG. 1 toward operating position asillustrated in FIG. 2. In the illustrated embodiment the release meansfoot pedal 20 when moved in the direction indicated by the arrow 21turns the catch means 19 about the axis 22 of the shaft 23 on which itis mounted to move the catch means 19 in a counterclockwise direction asviewed in FIGS 1 and 3 out of engagement with the shoulder 18 and permitthe movement of the handle structure 12 to operating position.

This resilient deformation of the finger 26 particularly at the tip 27permits the yielding and disengagement without damage to the rigid partsof the vacuum cleaner. It has been found in the past that when suchyieldable catch arrangement was not provided and the release mechanismfailed to function force applied to the cleaner by the operator in anattempt to force the release often resulted in damage to the lockedparts. This is avoided with the construction of the present invention.

The finger 26 of this embodiment may be made of any resilientlydeformable material. An excellent material is a synthetic rubberlikematerial of which a flexible polyurethane is ideally suited.

Having described my invention as related to the embodiment shown in theaccompanying drawings, it is my intention that the invention be notlimited by any of the details of description, unless otherwisespecified.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:

l. A vacuum cleaner, comprising: a floor contacting cleaning unitmovable over the floor during cleaning thereof; a handle structurecomprising a suction unit movable on said cleaning unit betweenoperating and storage positions, said suction unit having an outercasing; catch means on said cleaning unit; a catch defined by a portionof said suction unit casing, said catch means and catch having portionsin engagement when said structure is in said storage position to retainthe structure in storage position; and release means for bodily movingsaid catch means out of said engagement with said catch preparatory tomoving said handle structure to operating position, said portion of saidcatch means engaging said catch being resiliently deformable and theremainder of said catch means and catch being relatively rigid to permitforcible disengagement thereof by force applied to the cleaning unit andhandle structure in the event of failure of said release means.

2. The cleaner of claim 1 wherein said catch comprises a recess and saidcatch means comprises a finger engaging said recess when said handlestructure is in said storage position.

3. The cleaner of claim 2 wherein said recess is defined on one side bya shoulder against which said finger bears.

4. The cleaner of claim 1 wherein said catch is embodied in a camsurface forming a recess on said suction unit.

1. A vacuum cleaner, comprising: a floor contacting cleaning unitmovable over the floor during cleaning thereof; a handle structurecomprising a suction unit movable on said cleaning unit betweenoperating and storage positions, said suction unit having an outercasing; catch means on said cleaning unit; a catch defined by a portionof said suction unit casing, said catch means and catch having portionsin engagement when said structure is in said storage position to retainthe structure in storage position; and release means for bodily movingsaid catch means out of said engagement with said catch preparatory tomoving said handle structure to operating position, said portion of saidcatch means engaging said catch being resiliently deformable and theremainder of said catch means and catch being relatively rigid to permitforcible disengagement thereof by force applied to the cleaning unit andhandle structure in the event of failure of said release means.
 2. Thecleaner of claim 1 wherein said catch comprises a recess and said catchmeans comprises a finger engaging said recess when said handle structureis in said storage position.
 3. The cleaner of claim 2 wherein saidrecess is defined on one side by a shoulder against which said fingerbears.
 4. The cleaner of claim 1 wherein said catch is embodied in a camsurface forming a recess on said suction unit.